Twenty-second Sunday of Pentecost

All I Have Is a Little Olive Oil

1 Kings 17: 12

When Elijah went to stay with the widow in Zaraphath in Sidon, he asked for water and bread. She gave him the water, but replied, "All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil."

Because she was willing to share the little she had with Elijah, the Lord gave her enough flour and oil to feed her family for a very long time.

People in Bible times used a great deal of olive oil, but they probably didn't add flavors to it as we sometimes do to use in salads.

But a bottle of flavored oil is a lovely gift.

Collect small, attractive bottles with good stoppers or corks, and put an attractive dried chile pepper (have several different sizes and colors and flavors available) in each one. Fill the bottle with olive oil and cork tightly. The flavor will intensify over time.

Or you could add a twist of lemon or lime peel instead.

Though Elijah spent most of his time in Samaria, Zaraphath is in the north, on the Mediterranean coast between Tyre and Sidon, in what is now Lebanon.

HomePage | Calendar | Pentecost 22 Lesson | Pentecost 23 Art